Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions
by Charles Gallenkamp
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Book Summary Information
Author: Charles GallenkampForeword: Michael J. Novacek
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-03-26
ISBN: 0142000760
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions
Book Review: In the Days of the Dinosaur Hunters
Summary: 3 Stars
The first book that I ever owned as a child growing up in Mississippi was Roy Chapman Andrews in the "Days of the Dinosaurs" a book about the terrible lizards for small children(looking at the copy today it is hopelessly out of date with Bakker's warm blooded "Jurrasic Park" creatures we know of now). I dreamed growing up of becoming a Laura Croft type adventurer traveling the vast sands of the Gobi to find the next new discovery. That Andrews may have been the model for Indiana Jones came as no surprise.
This book takes an unflattering look at Chapman's life and paints him somewhat as a racist and a boor. That is really unfair as that is the culture of that time between the world wars when the world was safe for the Western male. Chapman's adventures in the service of the Museaum of Natural History do hold your interest and paint a picture of a remarkable PR man and entertainer on a par with someone like PT Barnum.
His expedition to the Gobi did make many significant discoveries that advanced scientific knowledge of the age of reptiles the most important being the Protoceratops nest with Mother and Eggs.
I found it to be a well written biography and I am again taken back to my childhood dreams of becoming a dinosaur discoverer.
Summary of Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions
The New York Times science editor John Noble Wilford has called the Central Asiatic Expeditions (1922-1930) "the most celebrated . . . of the twentieth century." Led by world-renowned explorer Roy Chapman Andrews, the five expeditions uncovered unimagined scientific wonders: the Flaming Cliffs, dinosaur eggs, the first skeleton of Velociraptor (the terrifying killer of Jurassic Park fame), and a fossil treasure trove of other dinosaurs and extinct mammals.In Dragon Hunter, Charles Gallenkamp vividly recounts these extraordinary adventures while telling Andrews's incredible life story-from his beginnings as a floor sweeper at the American Museum of Natural History to his international fame as one of the century's most acclaimed explorers. Filled with astonishing tales of political intrigue and braving the elements, Dragon Hunter is a thrilling page-turner that takes readers along on one of the most important scientific missions in history.
"Enormously entertaining." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Amazing stuff . . . an incredibly exciting life." (National Geographic Explorer)
Roy Chapman Andrews was never much of a scholar, and anyone who looked at his high school report card might have foretold an undistinguished future. But, from an early age, Andrews's ambitions lay outside the social norm; an ardent fan of Robinson Crusoe and a devoted outdoorsman, Andrews wanted nothing more than to be an adventurer. He got his chance when he talked his way onto the staff of the American Museum of Natural History in 1906, under whose auspices, 15 years later, he was to mount the first of his central Asian expeditions. This decade-long program of exploration took Andrews and his team into the heart of the Gobi, one of the last uncharted regions on earth.
Convinced for ideological as much as scientific reasons that humans originated not in Africa but in Asia, Andrews spent much of his time in the field seeking evidence of early man. That search would prove fruitless, for, as biographer Charles Gallenkamp notes, "nary a scrap of genuinely ancient human bone was ever retrieved by the Central Asian Expeditions." What Andrews and his colleagues did find, however, has propelled dozens of scientific missions ever since: huge caches of dinosaur bones at places such as Mongolia's Flaming Cliffs. These fossils helped demonstrate geological connections between Asia and North America, and they added dozens of new species to the paleontological record.
All the while, Andrews contended with bandits, corrupt officials, invading armies, disease, and other dangers. After finishing Gallenkamp's vigorous book, readers will understand why Andrews should have served as the model for the movie character Indiana Jones--who, if anything, pales by comparison to the real thing. --Gregory McNamee
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